My feet move rhythmically over old pinkish-orange linoleum floors down a hallway inside the Center for Performing Arts building which houses my department within the College of Arts and Sciences. Light is falling in cheerful patterns across the faded texture of my path. As I pace around the corner near the main theater, I hear voices exchanging in exaggerated tones. Someone screams, several people verbally react, I hear a bustle of movement and the energy permeates through the airwaves.
Soon I round a bend amidst the practice rooms for the Music Department. Someone is playing a jazz tune in the recital hall with a piano and drums; this is overwhelmed by a voice singing a beautiful melody seeping through the cracks of a closed door in a practice room. I realize that my feet have picked up on the rhythm of the music and I smile in appreciation for this building: so full of life and expression that I take a moment just to live where and who I am within this place.
I am a sophomore majoring in film and I have had to learn a wide range of not only technical skills for developing ideas, acquiring images on film and the assembly process, but I've learned the science behind what allows us to play with light on plastic strips. I've learned mathematical formulas used to render adequate results through my medium; skills and knowledge which have been developed in part by my elective courses, but have been given breath and purposeful passion as a means of aiding my aspirations as a filmmaker. I am fascinated by the unfailing symmetry of math, and understanding why and how things work through science gives depth to my very perception of life. But taking these elements and using them as a contributing force for that which drives me, is a satisfying facilitator toward my implicit function.
I remember a moment when it hit me that I had found a place where I fit. I was surrounded by people who think and see the world similarly to me, but who also challenge and inspire me in ways I would be unable to discover alone.
Although I am an individual and I have a unique voice, I am not a soloist. The concept of community is realized daily in our college and even more intimately within my department. I have come to know fellow majors, instructors, and people in various offices. Each person is different, each fulfilling a role which is interconnected with every other and beneficial to our little community. It's not just about me getting through school and earning a degree, but also about building personal standards which in turn affect others positively, generates a camaraderie which spurs creativity, ignites a cooperative spirit, challenges one to further excellence and thus truly lives up to the concept of "improving the human condition."
Hannah Fritch
Sophomore
Film
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